Photo credit:  Curtis Messer

CLICK HERE TO VIEW FULL SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE INCLUDING AGENDA, WORKSHOPS & PRESENTER BIOS.

Please note that this is a live event.  Due to staff capacity, we do not intend to stream or zoom any portion of the workshops.  Thanks for understanding.

Space for overnight guests is limited at this event.  If overnight tickets are sold out, please refer to other lodging options, under "Housing" below.

For nearly 60 years, California Poets in the Schools(CalPoets) has brought poetry creation and performance to over one million students. Our work is more important than ever! Poetry instruction can build empathy and a sense of belonging in the classroom setting while helping youth discover the power of speaking up and speaking out. Poetry and the arts can be dynamic, healing tools for schools and communities recovering from natural disasters and other traumas such as gun violence. 

This symposium is open to the public and geared towards literary teaching artists (for all audiences), classroom educators, poets, MFA candidates, and more. Content will be engaging for those brand new to teaching the literary arts and to the "old hats" among us. CalPoets Poet-Teachers will lead workshops sharing their skills and expertise.

Workshops will be geared towards the theme of The Poetics of Connection. How can poetry bring communities together? How can poetry bring collaborative growth and invigorate classroom relationships between teachers and students? What do we gain from coming together in person - after three years of a virtual symposium? We will learn from experts in our midst and pool our best practices for a weekend of learning, networking, community-building, poetry readings, and some good old-fashioned fun.

SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE 

CLICK HERE TO VIEW FULL SYMPOSIUM SCHEDULE INCLUDING AGENDA, WORKSHOPS & PRESENTER BIOS.

Lee Herrick is the California Poet Laureate. He is the author of three books of poems: Scar and Flower, Gardening Secrets of the Dead, and This Many Miles from Desire. He is co-editor, with Leah Silvieus, of The World I Leave You: Asian American Poets on Faith and Spirit (Orison Books 2020). He served as City of Fresno Poet Laureate from 2015-2017. His poems have appeared widely in literary magazines, anthologies, and textbooks including The Bloomsbury Review, Columbia Poetry Review, Berkeley Poetry Review, The Normal School, The Poetry Foundation, ZYZZYVA, Seeds from a Silent Tree: Writing by Korean Adoptees, Highway 99: A Literary Journey Through California’s Great Central Valley (2nd edition), The Place That Inhabits Us: Poems from the San Francisco Bay Watershed, Naming the Lost: The Fresno Poets—Interviews and Essays, One for the Money: The Sentence as Poetic Form, Indivisible: Poems of Social Justice, Dear America: Letters of Hope, Habitat, Defiance, and Democracy, and HERE: Poems for the Planet, with a foreword by His Holiness the Dalai Lama (Copper Canyon 2019), among others. 

Herrick serves on the advisory board of Terrain.org and Sixteen Rivers Press. He has taught in Qingdao, China, and for Kundiman. He co-founded LitHop in Fresno. He has traveled throughout Latin America and Asia and has given readings across the United States. He was born in Daejeon, South Korea, adopted at ten months of age, and raised in California. He lives with his family in Fresno, California, and teaches at Fresno City College and in the low-residency MFA program at the University of Nevada Reno at Lake Tahoe. He is the 10th California Poet Laureate, and the first Asian American to serve in the role.

Stacie Aamon Yeldell is an award-winning vocalist, speaker, and music psychotherapist with over 15 years of experience in mental health treatment. As the founder of Amöntra, a consulting company based in California, she has facilitated a range of therapeutic mindfulness practices for individuals and organizations, including The Grammy Foundation, The Riveter, GoogleArts and Culture, and YoungArts. In addition to being a faculty member for UCLArts & Healing, Stacie has spoken at events like Women In Music and DisclosureFestTM. She has also appeared on CBS News, in Renée Fleming’s “Music and Mind Live,” and is featured in the documentary “Proven.” Stacie holds a masters degree in music therapy from New York University, in addition to certifications in sound and music healing from the Open Center and Vocal Psychotherapy (AVPT) from the Vancouver Vocal Psychotherapy Institute.

Ceasar Avelar is a U.S. born, Blue-Collar Central American Poet who writes exclusively for the working-class. Ceasar is the current Poet Laureate of Pomona, CA. He is the Writer in Residence at Cafe Con Libros Press, and is the Founder and Host of Obsidian Tongues Open Mic. Ceasar is the author of God of the Air Hose and Other Blue Collar Poems, published by El Martillo Press.

COST

Active Poet-Teachers

It is our hope that cost will not be a barrier for any active Poet-Teacher who wants to attend the 2023 symposium. All active Poet-Teachers are encouraged to attend by donation. No active Poet-Teacher will be turned away for lack of funds. A donation amount ($25 minimum) can be chosen upon registration. 

Poet-Teachers in Training

It is our hope that cost will not be a barrier for any Poet-Teacher in training who wants to attend the 2023 symposium.  Poet-Teachers in training must have conducted an interview with CalPoets' staff, been officially accepted into the program by the Executive Director or Program Manager, and have a clear plan for completing all elements of their training within one year.  No Poet-Teacher in training who meets these criteria will be turned away for lack of funds. A donation amount ($25 minimum) can be chosen upon registration.  Poet-Teachers in training should choose from the Active Poet-Teacher ticket options when registering.

Everyone else

Day-use and overnight packages are available. Packages range in price from $150 for a basic day rate with no meals, parking, or lodging, to $395 for an all-inclusive opportunity. 

WHAT'S INCLUDED

All Workshops & Events

The symposium schedule is forthcoming. 

Lee Herrick will lead a creative writing workshop Saturday afternoon, followed by a reading Saturday evening.

Housing

Dorm-style apartments are included with conference pricing. Each apartment contains four individual single bedrooms. Each bedroom contains an extra-long twin bed, desk, and chair. There are no double/queen beds available. Each unit has two bathrooms, a kitchenette, a living room, and a balcony.  Click here to view the apartment layout.

Upon registration, you will be asked your preference for:

-Mixed-gender apartment or not 

-Any specific people you would like to share an apartment with

Please note:  If you feel strongly that you would like to share an apartment with particular people, you must coordinate with them in advance. Make sure that each person lists the same group of people as preferred apartment mates upon registration or you will not be guaranteed specific housing arrangments.

Alternatively, with everyone in a group's consent, you can work together and have one member register for two to four people and automatically be housed together.

Also note:  If you have housing priorities that may not be able to be met by California Poets in the Schools, or if overnight tickets are sold out, please consider opting to purchase your own hotel room at Kellogg West, a hotel situated on the Cal Poly campus. California Poets in the Schools will not pay for any person's lodging at Kellogg West, and reservations must be made directly by you.  If you opt to stay at Kellogg West, or any other hotel, simply select a ticket option upon registration that does not include lodging.  

Meals

Breakfast, lunch and dinner will be provided at Centerpointe Dining Commons where vegan and vegetarian options are available.

Meals included:

Friday, July 21, 2023

Dinner

Saturday, July 22nd, 2023

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner

Sunday, July 23rd, 2023

Breakfast and lunch

Parking

Campus parking will be provided for all registered guests.

MORE DETAILS: 

Cancellation Policy: CalPoets will offer a full refund, minus a $25 processing fee for all cancellations made prior to July 7th.  After July 7th, no refunds will be issued.  

Accessibility:  

ADA: Dining areas and conference rooms are ADA accessible.  ADA lodging is available, however doors within the apartment are not automatic. 

Hybrid/Streaming:  We are currently looking into the possibility of streaming some workshops and events, but do not guarantee any virtual options at this time.

Masks/Covid Protocols: California Poets in the Schools will follow all current California Covid 19 recommended safety measures, found here.  At this time (April, 2023) we do not intend to mandate masks, vaccines or negative covid tests for anyone to take part in this event.  Of course you are welcome to mask if you wish. Please do not attend if you are sick or have tested positive for covid.

California Poets in the Schools is committed to providing universal access to all of our events. Please contact Fernando Salinas (see info below) to request disability accommodations. Advance notice is necessary to arrange for some accessibility needs.  You may also state your needs upon registration.

For more information, please contact Fernando Salinas, Program Manager at (415) 221-4201, Fernando@cpits.org. For more information about Cal Poly Pomona, please click here. Thank you for directing all questions regarding the university to Fernando Salinas (contact above). 

This activity is funded in part by the California Arts Council, a state agency.